It sounds like an oxymoron, right? Cruises in general are not at all eco friendly, but they are a lot of fun! Fortunately, in the past few years cruise lines have been doing their part to be friendlier to the oceans. If you are considering a cruise, I suggest you first educate yourself on some of the steps that vendors are taking to stay green; that way, on your next cruise you can be sure to support a company that shares your eco friendly attitude!
Here is some info on what various cruise lines are doing:
Celebrity Solstice: The Solstice is the first solar powered cruise ship! But aside from that, Celebrity has not done too much. All of their ships have environmental stewards on them to provide staff and guest education, and they also have advanced water purification systems so that they aren’t dumping so much grey and black water into the ocean.
Disney Cruise Line: Uses the water generated from the air conditioner to do laundry! They also mandate that their staff be educated on green practices.
Carnival: Aboard the fun ships waste is either recycled, incinerated, or off loaded for disposal on land.
Costa: This beautiful Italian cruise line has received the “Green Star” award for all 11 of the ships in their fleet! They meet all of the energy protection standards.
There is one cruise line though that goes above and beyond the industry standard and is truly an eco-friendly inspiration for all other cruise lines, and that is…
Holland America
They are by far the greenest of all cruise lines. They have gone above and beyond to be efficient and reduce waste.
· They have a black water treatment system, so they aren’t sending sewage directly into the ocean.
· They treat grey water as well before putting it into the ocean.
· They put NO waste overboard.
· They have environmental officers on each and every ship and the staff is eco educated.
· They have a towel reuse program so that they are not using water to wash 3,000+ towels per day.
· They have installed low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets.
· They use green, non-toxic cleaning supplies on all their ships, as well as natural detergents that are plant based.
· They create routes around tide schedules to maximize their fuel efficiency.
· They put their money where their mouth is by offering senior staff a monetary incentive to encourage fuel conservation!
For further information on this impressive cruise line, visit their website and check out their Sustainability Report! It is remarkable!!! Their work to be green as not gone unnoticed and they have won several awards including: Marine Environmental Business of the year 2010, Responsible Tourism Award, Gold Medal Best Eco Friendly “Green” Cruise Ship, ms Zuiderdam, Green Planet Award for outstanding environmental standards, and Best Eco Friendly Cruiseline from Porthole Magazine!
Our caps off to you Holland America, and I don’t know about you all, but I look forward to cruising with them real soon! They are currently offering 7 night Caribbean cruises starting at $549... Alaska cruises starting at $499...anddddd Pacific Coastal cruises starting from $249!
I hope you found this information useful and can use it when selecting your next cruise line!
Bon Voyage!
